Kevin Love, UCLA?s freshman and Pac-10 Player of the Year, had no shortage of words to describe what it was like playing against Memphis senior forward Joey Dorsey in the Final Four.
“That?s their man out there,” Love said of the former Douglass High standout. “He just kept getting to balls, had a couple big blocks, just played a pretty good game for only playing 27 minutes.”
But 27 minutes was all Dorsey needed to lead the top-seeded Tigers into tonight?s national championship game against Kansas (36-3) at 9:21 in the Alamodome in San Antonio.
Memphis? 78-63 win over the top-seeded Bruins improved its record to 38-1, the most wins by a Division I team, and put it on the brink of winning its first national championship.
And with Dorsey grabbing a game-high 15 rebounds, adding two assists and two blocks and playing great defense, the Tigers? dominated from start to finish.
“I was just trying to make it hard for him to catch the ball,” Dorsey said. “I got some dumb fouls in the beginning and then coach came over there and just told me, ?You?re not playing hard enough. Play tougher and play with more intensity.? That?s what I was trying to do the whole game.”
If the 6-foot-9, 265-pounder did let up, Love didn?t notice.
Love, who is expected to be among the first players selected in the NBA Draft if he turns professional, made just 4-of-11 shots from the floor and finished with 12 points and nine rebounds. He entered the game averaging 17.5 points and 10.6 rebounds per game.
But as good as Dorsey played, his coach thought he could have been ever better considering Dorsey, who averages 6.9 points per game, didn?t score.
“I thought he was a little bit timid at times,” Coach John Calipari said. “There were times that he wasn?t a beast today, and I just want him to go every possession and be that beast. I think he?s one of the finest players in the country and he didn?t perform that way. I want him to. He?s like a son, this kid. Now, he?s done some of the dumbest things I can tell you over the four years we?ve been there. But you know what, he?s grown. He?s come into his own. He?s the first high school graduate in his family, and he?s going to be five classes away from a college degree when the year ends. This kid has come so far, and I just want the best for him.”
Dorsey, who averages 9.7 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game, can cap a dream season with a national championship tonight against fellow top-seed Kansas, which routed top-seeded North Carolina, 84-66.
The Jayhawks tout junior guards Brandon Rush (13.4 ppg, 5.1 rpg) and Mario Chalmers (12.6 ppg, 4.4 apg). The Tigers, who are in the national championship game for the first time since 1973, have Dorsey and freshman guard Derrick Rose (14.8 ppg, 4.6 apg, 4.5 rpg) and junior guard Chris Douglas-Roberts (18 ppg, 4.2 rpg).
Calipari had his players write what would be their dream scenario for the end of the season before his team faced UCLA (35-4). Dorsey, who led Douglass to the Class 3A title in 2002, wouldn?t divulge his perfect ending, but it might become a reality tonight.
“I?m still working on it,” Dorsey said. “I can?t tell.”
